Blowers and fans find application in a wide variety of computer systems and other electronic devices. For example, blowers and fans may be implemented to help dissipate heat generated during operation of the computer system and other electronic devices. If not properly dissipated, heat generated during operation can shorten the life span of various electronic components and/or generally result in poor performance of the computers or other electronic devices. Various blowers are available, and when used for thermal management of computer systems and other electronic devices, these blowers are typically positioned to blow air across a heat sink and out an opening formed through the computer housing to dissipate heat into the surrounding environment.
Blowers and fans are also commonly used in ink jet printers to help dry the ink faster so that the pages can be laid down on top of one another or picked up by the user without smudging or smearing the ink on the paper.
Sizing the blower is important during development of these systems. However, developers also have to consider cost, size constraints, and acoustics (e.g., noise generated by the blower). In large rack-based computer systems, the number and/or size of fans needed to cool all of the components can make the room so noisy that technicians only enter the room on an as-needed basis (e.g., to make repairs, upgrades, etc.). Similarly, most consumers do not want to hear the noise created by a blower in their inkjet printer, which is usually located on or near their workspace.